Sleep
by Kellifer
Summary: A quick little vignette - sometimes we don't realise what is truly important until we nearly lose it.


Disclaimer - I don't own SG1 or the characters and events portrayed therein. I use them for stories but try suing me and all you get is a 3-year-old mac and a dirty look.

-Sleep-

"Sam! Jesus Christ… what did you do?"

She felt strong arms lift her and she thought vaguely that she was wet and cold. She felt muzzy-headed, like she was drunk and she was hoping that if that was the case, that she hadn't done anything too embarrassing. The taste of red wine and something else that she didn't want to think about was in her mouth. She just hoped she hadn't actually thrown up _on_ anyone. She would never hear the end of it.

She wanted to say to whomever was carrying her that she wanted to be put down, but she couldn't make the words come out. Her limbs felt leaden and strange so she wasn't sure they would support her anyway. All she really wanted to do was sleep.

"No, goddamit. Stay awake!"

She felt carpet under her feet but her legs didn't have any strength and they buckled. Someone hauled her upright again, holding her under the armpits. She was shaken and she wanted to protest, to tell whoever the jerk was that was treating her so roughly to leave her the hell alone but her voice was still holding out on her. "C'mon Sam." There was desperation and fear in the voice and she realised that although the voice had been familiar, she hadn't been able to place it because of this.

"Jack… get off." She was finally able to mumble and she flailed ineffectually at him, trying to get him to put her down. He was frogmarching her across the room and she thought that she must have looked ridiculous. She was hauled sideways and propped up against a wall with Jack's palm flat against her back to keep her upright and she heard him pick up the phone and dial with the other.

"Daniel! No... Just shut up and listen! Get to Sam's place now. What?… Yes, I'm here and she's done … yep… I don't know… no, I found booze and there was an empty bottle of sleeping pills and she won't wake up properly… Yes I do… yes I will… what?… good idea… thanks. Just come and bring Janet!" Jack dropped the phone and it thunked onto the carpet.

Sam felt herself being lifted over Jack's shoulder and she was carried. The light got brighter and she thought she must've been in her bathroom. She heard her taps being turned and then icy cold water hit her. "Waaaah!" She yelped. She was being held firmly under the freezing cold spray of the shower. "Jack are you crazy?" She yelped and her voice was stronger this time. She was finally able to open her eyes properly and Jack was there, his face inches from her own, soaking wet. She couldn't help it, she started laughing.

"I was going to ask you the same thing Carter." He snapped and his tone made her laughter dry up. She looked at him again, really focusing this time and there was hurt and confusion in his face as he looked at her. "Get off me." She shoved him away with more strength this time. He relinquished his grasp on her but his arms stayed up, circling the space around her, ready to catch her if she fell. She turned to the wall so the cold water ran down her back. It was making the fuzziness in her mind recede and he didn't like what was being revealed underneath.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. She'd never felt so tired in her life. She remembered all those times, all those missions when they'd had to go without sleep for days and she knew that this was somehow worse. Jack seeing her like this, vulnerable, was worse.

"I don't know. I just wanted to … see you." Jack said, his voice soft. "Jesus Sam, what were you trying to do?"

Sam turned so she was facing Jack again and could see fear and pain in his eyes. She sighed heavily. "I wasn't…you know. I've just had trouble sleeping. I wanted to sleep. I know the wine was probably a bad idea." She vaguely heard the front door open in the background and thought to herself that Daniel had gotten there fast but a smile rose to her lips. Janet lived closer to her. Daniel could only have gotten to her place that fast with Janet in tow if he had already _been_ at Janet's.

Jack was looking at her strangely, as if he couldn't imagine what she was smiling at after what had just happened. Of course he didn't. He was probably convinced that she had tried to _kill_ herself when all she'd done was make a mistake while being in a particularly bad insomnia funk.

The tiny figure of Janet Frasier, hair mussed from sleep but still looking all business, appeared in the bathroom doorway and chased Jack out, wanting to have a proper look at Sam. Jack reluctantly retreated and found himself in the hallway with an equally sleep mussed Daniel. "What happened?" He asked.

Jack slid to the floor and brought his knees up under his chin. "Don't know Danny boy." He sighed.

xxxxx

"She's fine. The sleeping prescription I gave her would have only had two tablets left if she was taking them like I ordered her to. That's why the bottle was empty. It was extremely stupid for her to mix them with wine, but that's all it was."

Jack was looking at Janet uncertainly, the fear that had gripped him not really letting go yet. He had to admit to himself that the concern and downright _terror_ he had felt had come from a place other than care for a team member and friend. The only time he had ever felt that way was when he had heard that awful gunshot from the upstairs of his and Sarah's house, the sound that had changed his world.

He had been afraid that his world was going to shift again, back into that dark place. He wasn't sure he could find a way out a second time.

Janet had stepped back and Daniel had automatically put up a hand to rub the base of her neck. Such a simple gesture yet one that spoke volumes of the easy affection the two shared. Jack wondered how many times he had resisted the urge to do the very same thing to Sam. He felt like all he had been doing recently was resisting urges when it came to Sam.

"She just needs to sleep." Janet added.

xxxxx

"Sir?" Sam mumbled sleepily. She could feel the gentle thumping of a heart under her cheek. She tilted her head up and could see Jack looking down at her, one arm slung around her shoulder, the other cradling her back, holding her against himself.

"Shhh... Carter, you just need to sleep. Doctor's orders." Jack admonished gently, one hand coming up to brush a tendril of hair from her eyes. Sam smiled and snaked a hand across Jack's chest.

"Yes sir." She sighed.


End file.
